James Comey: FBI Was Never Asked to Halt Investigation for Political Purposes [Video]

by Don Irvineon May 19, 2017

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During his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 3, former FBI Director James Comey told Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) that he was never asked to halt an FBI investigation for political purposes:

Hirono: So, if the attorney general or senior officials at the Department of Justice opposes a specific investigation, can they halt that FBI investigation?

Comey: In theory, yes.

Hirono: Has it happened?

Comey: Not in my experience. Because it would be a big deal to tell the FBI to stop doing something without appropriate purpose…Often times they give us opinions that we don’t see a case there, and so you ought to stop investing resources in it, but I’m talking about a situation where we were told to stop something for a political reason. That would be a very big deal. It’s not happened in my experience.

Was Comey referring only to the Attorney General and senior DOJ officials, or could it be interpreted to mean a wider swath of administration officials including the president?